Shoe improvement



Jan- 28, 1954 v. E. vlTzTHuM SHOE IMPROVEMENT Filed Aug. 24, 1961 .A TT ORNE Y United States Patent Oiitce 3,119,191 Fatenteci Jan. 23, 1964 3,119,191 SHOE MPRQVEMENT Virginia E. Vitzthum, 90 Clair-mont Ave., Westwood, NJ. Fiied Aug. 24, 1961, Ser. No. 133,693 4 Claims. (Cl. .S6-2.5)

This invention relates to footwear and more particularly to footwear which is adaptable to match changes in costume.

Persons responsive to prevailing fashion modes prefer that a complementary color scheme be :extended throughout a clothing ensemble, including dress o-r suit, hat, gloves and shoes. Since a wardrobe, particularly a ladys wardrobe, may lhave a large number of different colored and textured outfits, `an equally large number -of pairs of shoes are required to meet the demands of fashion. The period of use of the shoes is relatively short, being determined by the life of the dress with which they are worn and not by the normally longer life of the shoes. Furthermore, light colored, delicately textured shoes soil readily and lose the desired fresh, new look.

Multicolored shoes are ditlcult to polish neatly, requiring tedious care to prevent the overlapping of one color on the other. The problem is encountered in mens shoes as well as womens shoes and is particularly troublesome in childrens shoes. Also, neatly polished shoes may become soiled en route to the place where their best appearance is most seriously desired. Repolishing the shoes upon arrival is usually impractical since polish and attendant paraphernalia is bulky to carry.

Various shoe covers have been devised. Such devices have been deiicient because they Iattached to or extended below the welt or sole of the shoe. Devices attaching to the welt of the shoe are particularly objectionable in the :case of ladies shoes since fashion demands that the welt be kept as small as possible while the covers require a heavier and larger welt than is fashionable. Devices iitting under the sole of the shoe are objectionable because they are subject to excessive wear and also because they interfere with the normal walking stride of the wearer.

Some covers have been attached by wires or by drawstrings. Those using wires are objectionable because the size and shape of the welt required for their effective use is unfashionable. The drawstrings, when used, are objectionable because of the difficulty in con-- cealing the knot associated therewith. Also, those devices utilizing drawstrings are not adaptable to the stiffer materials such as leather and plastics.

Other covers utilizing fasteners, such as hooks or studs,

have been objectionable because of their effect on the appearance of the shoe.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a shoe cover which can be `fitted and firmly secured to the shoe so that it appears to become a part of the shoe, the method of attachment being concealed.

A further object is to provide a shoe cover which is inexpensive kand will permit the adaptation of a single pair of shoes to many outfits of varying colors and textures.

A further object is to provide a shoe cover which is removable for cleaning or polishing.

The objects of the invention were achieved by a shoe having an upper to which is attached a fabric having a raised pile which is cut to produce a number of hooks and utilizi-ng a cover which has a similar material attached to the underside and oriented `90 from the fabric on the upper so that the two series of hooks removably enga-ge each other holding the cover on the upper. The fabrics used :are more fully described in United States Patent Number 2,717,437 issued September 13, 1955.

In another aspect of the invention one of the fabrics utilized has a cut pile thread in which the pile is in the form of raised, irregularly bent threads which are removably engaged by the hooks of the `other fabric.

The foregoing and 4other objects and features of the invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

lFIG. 1 is a perspective View of a shoe having ya cover applied;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view through the toe of a shoe utilizing the cover of the invention;

FG. 3 is a sectional view through a velvet type fabric utilized in the invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a cover fastened to the basic shoe; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an alternate embodiment for fastening the cover to the basic shoe.

FIG. 1 shows a Well known form `of womens dress shoe 1t), having an upper d2, sole y14, heel 16 and shank 1S. The upper is ycomprised of a toe 2i), vamp 22, back quarters 24, 26 and counter 2S. Each of the distinct sectors is covered with the cover of the invention. The cover may be in |one piece covering the complete upper and heel. The preferred embodiment utilizes the covers of the invention only on the colored portions of the shoe. The style of shoe shown is commonly known as spectator and usually has Vamps and back quarters in white while the toe, counter and heel are colored. In the preferred embodiment for spectator shoes the cover of the invention is applied only to the toe Zti, counter 23 and heel 16.

FIG. 2 is a section view through the toe of the shoe and is typical of a section through any portion of the shoe utilizing the cover. The cover toe 2o is shown held to the basic shoe toe 30 by a material 32 of the type discribed in U. S. Patent 2,717,437. As is shown, the cover toe 20 is coextensive with the basic shoe toe 30 extending completely over the shoe. The cover extends adjacent the edge 34 on either side. The cover is not attached to the edge and therefore no special modiiications of the edge are required to utilize the cover.

The cover is shown made of leather, but it may be made of any fabric or other suitable material such as cloth, plastic, composition fibrous material, natural or artificial rubber or the like. Where thin or excessively flexible cover materials are used -it is preferred that the cover material be applied to the upper surface of a thin relatively rigid material, and the adhesive material be applied to the lower surface thereof.

FIG. 3 shows the preferred embodiment of the material to be used for attaching the cover to the basic shoe. The velvet type fabric includes a foundation structure constituted by a weft 36 and a warp 38. The foundation structure also carries an auxiliary warp thread 4t? in addition to warp thread 38. The thread 4t) is adapted to form the raised pile threads 42, 44. IThe pile threads 42 are bent over to form a hook 46.

.The warp and weft threads of the foundation structure may be arranged otherwise than in the manner illustrated as long as the resultant hook is formed. T he raised pile is made of artiiicial or synthetic material which will retain the desired shape. The pile material may be, for instance, any long chain synthetic polymeric amide which has recurring amide groups as an integral part of the main polymer chain and which is capable of being formed into a filament in which the structural elements are oriented in the directon of the axis.

FIG. 4 shows the fabric of FIG. 3 used to fasten the cover 43 to the corresponding part of the basic shoe 50. The velvet type fabric of FIG. 3 is attached to the basic shoe by any suitable means, such as gluing. A second velvet type fabric is applied to the cover with a 90 angular displacement in respect to the fabric on the basic shoe. The pile threads 52 of the cover engage the pile threads 54 of the basic shoe through the cooperating hooks S6, S8.

A slight pressure is all that is required to cause the hooks 56, S8 to engage since the material forming the hooks is resilient. Similarly, only a gentle pulling force is required to disengage the hooks. Nevertheless, the cover 48 is rmly held to the basic shoe due to the large number of hooks in engagement.

The fabrics need not be oriented at an exact 90 displacement. Any angle which is sucient to permit the hooks to engage is sufficient.

FIG. shows an alternate embodiment in which the basic shoe 60 is covered with a fabric having raised pile threads 62 which are irregularly bent so as to engage the hooks 56 of the pile threads S2 attached to the cover 48. The pile threads 62 are so irregularly shaped as to effectively form hooks which engage the hooks of the engaging thread. Similar to t-he embodiment of FIG. 4, the embodiment of FIG. 5 permits the cover to be connected to the basic shoe by a gentle pressure and removed by a gentle pull.

Various changes and modifications may be made in the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. -For instance, a glutinous adhesive material may be substituted for the velvet type fabric adhesive material specifically described. Also, the invention may be applied to childrens shoes and mens shoes as Well as to the ladies shoes described.

While I have described the principles of my invention in connection with specific embodiments, it is to be clearly understood that the description is made only by Way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of my invention as set forth in the objects thereof and in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A dress shoe for matching changes in costume comprising an upper and a heel, said upper and heel being provided on their entire external surface thereof with a first fabric material comprising a foundation structure including a plurality of weft threads, a plurality of warp threads, `and a plurality of auxiliary warp threads of a synthetic resin material in the form of raised pile threads, the ends of at least part of said raised pile threads being in the form of material engaging hooks, and an ornamental cover material for selected portions of said upper and heel provided with a second fabric material on the underside thereof, said second fabric being similar to said first fabric and oriented at an angle to said rst fabric so that the pile threads of said fabric removably engage the pile threads of the second fabric when said ornamental cover is pressed against the selected portions of the upper and heel whereby the color, texture and appearance of said shoe may be altered at selected portions of the upper and heel to match changes in costume.

2. A dress shoe as in claim 1 wherein said ornamental cover has an upper surface of leather.

3. A dress shoe as in claim 1 wherein said ornamental cover has an upper surface of a textile material.

4. A dress shoe as n claim 1 wherein said ornamental cover has an upper surface of a synthetic material.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,043,350 Owers Nov. 5, 1912 1,795,769 Frohman Mar. l0, 1931 1,801,379 Turner Apr. 21, 1931 2,013,700 Savale Sept. 10, 1935 2,068,946 Ferguson Jan. 26, 1937 2,076,514 Huffman Apr. 6, 1937 2,236,367 Gruber Mar. 25, 1941 2,717,437 De Mestral Sept. 13, 1955 2,887,792 Statt May 26, 1959 3,009,235 De Mestral Nov. 21, 1961 3,015,896 Breslow Ian. 9, 1962 

1. A DRESS SHOE FOR MATCHING CHANGES IN COSTUME COMPRISING AN UPPER AND A HEEL, SAID UPPER AND HEEL BEING PROVIDED ON THEIR ENTIRE EXTERNAL SURFACE THEREOF WITH A FIRST FABRIC MATERIAL COMPRISING A FOUNDATION STRUCTURE INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF WEFT THREADS, A PLURALITY OF WARP THREADS, AND A PLURALITY OF AUXILIARY WARP THREADS OF A SYNTHETIC RESIN MATERIAL IN THE FORM OF RAISED PILE THREADS, THE ENDS OF AT LEAST PART OF SAID RAISED PILE THREADS, IN THE FORM OF MATERIAL ENGAGING HOOKS, AND AN ORNAMENTAL COVER MATERIAL FOR SELECTED PORTIONS OF SAID UPPER AND HEEL PROVIDED WITH A SECOND FABRIC MATERIAL ON THE UNDERSIDE THEREOF, SAID SECOND FABRIC BEING SIMILAR TO SAID FIRST FABRIC AND ORIENTED AT AN ANGLE TO SAID FIRST FABRIC SO THAT THE PILE THREADS OF SAID FABRIC REMOVABLY ENGAGE THE PILE THREADS OF THE SECOND FABRIC WHEN SAID ORNAMENTAL COVER IS PRESSED AGAINST THE SELECTED PORTIONS OF THE UPPER AND HEEL WHEREBY THE COLOR, TEXTURE AND APPEARANCE OF SAID SHOE MAY BE ALTERED AT SELECTED PORTIONS OF THE UPPER AND HEEL TO MATCH CHANGES IN COSTUME. 